California Fever

California Fever aired when I was 8. I loved the show but at 8 I really didn't grasp the concept of shows getting cancelled, it was just gone. The cool cars, the beach, the great music (at the time it was great music and in every episode..lol), what more could ya ask for as a kid. For a long time I thought Rex Smith was the Star of the show until the internet came along with all the answers. I've been trying to find the show for over 30 years, on vhs, and then dvd, and now streaming or for download. It always bums me out when the shows from my childhood whether short lived or not just can't be found.

CBS scheduled "California Fever" on Tuesday nights at 8 opposite ABC's powerhouse, "Happy Days".

I thought it was an engaging bit of fluff, but it had such an implausible-no-IMPOSSIBLE premise. The four stars never went to school; never went home; parents were never shown-they would just hang out at the beach-all the time.

This was in the fall of 1979. I had my "SONY BETAMAX" & I also had a habit of taping shows I knew were 'terminal' from the start.

Jimmy McNichol & Michelle Tobin had starred in a very short- lived family show called, "The Fitzpatricks" in the fall of 1977. In that show, they were brother & sister.

Co-star Marc McClure ( Ross ), went on to play "Jimmy Olsen" in the original four Superman movies.

Lorenzo Lamas ( Rick ), eventually made it big on "Falcon Crest".

Jimmy went on to make a few made-for-TV movies. One of them was called, "Blinded by the Light", in which he starred with his famous sister, Kristy. Jimmy was very one-dimensional in that one ( about a cult ). Kristy was much, much better.

Michelle disappeared completely after "Fever". Jimmy had some moderate success playing bass guitar in various bands, but his trail has been 'cold' for many years.

There were 13 episodes of "Fever" produced; 9 were telecast before cancellation-I have 6 of them. They are now on VHS masters & I can & have transferred them on to DVD, as well. Hard to believe & 'who cares' ? I know. But this is a rarity that will, doubtless, never be seen, again. I'm probably the only person in the country that has this one & it makes for a neat collector's item.

The theme song was sung by Jimmy & was written by Alan O'Day. O'Day had a number 1 hit in the summer of 1977 with, "Undercover Angel". It was there at the top for a number of weeks & is still heard & fondly remembered, today.

"Fever" ran from September 25th, 1979 until December 11th. Then it was gone. Ironically, one week after "Fever" was pulled, CBS aired "The Jimmy McNichol Special" in the same time slot ! But people paid as little attention to that as they had with "Fever".

A good friend of mine once asked me, "Jeff, why do you work so hard at remembering"? I countered that with, "Why do YOU work so hard at FORGETTING"?

"California Fever". It's been nearly 30 years. But it is also fun to remember-as well as have a chunk of the show in my hands.

"These kids have the fever. California Fever-where every day is sun & fun & every night is something else. Catch "California Fever", this fall on CBS". An original promo ( am I thorough or what ) ? More likely I need to stop sniffing nail polish remover. Nah. While you have to totally suspend disbelief in order to watch a show like this one, it did have a certain unrealistic charm to it.

Oh Boy, I need a vacation ! California ? No, I think not.

Jeffrey McAdam-Reed ( reven2skater@yahoo.com ).

Although this show was short lived and a very long time ago now, I remember it like yesterday. Probably because at the time "California Fever" was on the air my father had a 1970 Trans Am. Not even close to being as cool as the one in the show driven by Jimmy McNichol. But what I am wondering is.. whatever happened to Jimmy's TA after the show ended? I've searched the web for images of the car but there really aren't any. Just promo shots of the gang posing around the car and not much of it in frame. I have also been researching google and following leads but there isn't any information about the show's super cool Trans Am. I loved the paint job. Please let me know if you have any information.

Outside of featuring an actor from "Kids from C.A.P.E.R.", Cosie Costa, I don't know why I chose to watch this, but I was fifteen and not as hip as you, I guess.

The leads had a band in this episode. While riding in their car the quartet decides to call themselves "Four on the Floor". Their song had lyrics that seemed only to repeat the phrase, "Are you satisfied? Satisfied!"

In any case, there is a rival band called "Rest Room", an instrumental band who are not only awful, but with a name like that, we are obviously meant to dislike. Why else would a band call itself "Rest Room"? For that matter, the title of the series is rather vague, too. It seems that it was named only to make for snappy ad copy("Catch California Fever on CBS!"). Late but not lamented.

McNichol was better served in "Soap".

This show was really bad, but I totally love it none the less. It is an awesome 70's guilty pleasure show. The acting is nonexistent and the writing is horrible, but the episode with Rex Smith is classic and Jimmy McNichol's car is killer.

It is a fun watch if you can find it but it for most people it is not worth tracking down.

The other reviewer on this show was mistaken as Jimmy McNichol was not in Soap. That was Jimmy Baio. Lorenzo Lamas was in this but his horrific acting makes you wonder how he ever found work later on Falcon Crest. Morgan Brittany who was in two episodes later went on to have a great role in Dallas and was one of the few people in the show who seemed at all believable in her character and even that was a stretch.

Still, this show is priceless.